It was at that moment when Eman also sensed a presence. As he was walking towards it, he noticed the ground was heading down. He slowed down his steps. It was also kinda slippery because the ground seemed a little wet and there were dark mosses on it.

Must be a long time ago since this mine has been shut down, he thought.

After a downslope, the ground returned to a straight flat again. He didn't forget to randomly use his <Object Appraisal> ability while moving forward. However, like the other debris he appraised on his way, there was still no sign of rare minerals.

It didn't take him long to find the culprit of the scraping noises. After some careful steps, he arrived at the location where the presence was. There, he saw a small beast scraping its claw on the wall.

"A cat?"

Perhaps hearing his mutter, it suddenly stopped its scraping and looked in his direction.

Eman frowned. Although its size and body were no doubt of the cat, something in it felt different.

Is it because of its glowing eyes?

But the reflection of the flashlight into its eyes must be the cause of it, therefore, that wasn't the reason why it felt different than a normal cat.

The golden eyes are probably the reason. And also, the golden stripes on its white fur. Its ears are golden as well. It looks really cute.

<Host, that one is a subspecies of a cat, and it's a rare one!>

For the first time, he heard the System sound so excited.

"A rare one?"

Eman repeated System's words.

<Yes, host. It's popular by the call of, "Fortune Cat".>

"Fortune Cat?"

<That's right, Host. And this Fortune Cat is the favorite pet of rich families as well as wealthy merchants because of the fortune it brings to the owner. Not only that, this cat is also good at finding rare minerals, especially gold.>

"Really?!"

Eman's eyes turned excited when he heard it.

<Yes. Maybe because it likes shiny things.>

Right after System said that, the Fortune Cat, looked straight in his direction with eyes gleaming.

"Hm? Wait. Could it be…"

Eman said in a mutter, suspecting the Fortune Cat's reason for the excited gleam on its eyes was due to the flashlight's brightness. As he suspected, it suddenly jumped straight at him to snatch away the flashlight.

Nyah!

It was quick, but unfortunately, it was up against the wrong opponent. Eman swerved away from it by stepping to the side.

Even after failing to catch the flashlight, the Fortune Cat tried again. This time, without hesitation even. Eman raised the flashlight above. The cute little animal did its best to reach it, but what its paws caught was just another empty air.

Upon landing on the ground, its face twisted into an angry expression. It might be wondering why it could not catch it.

Nyarrr!

The Fortune Cat showed its fangs and growled. Then, out of a sudden, it jumped aggressively to try to get it again. However, the same result happened.

The cat didn't surrender, though. It jumped rapidly this time. So, as a result, both of them had to move rapidly. One was trying to steal the flashlight, and the other one was defending it.

Perhaps noticing it couldn't get the shiny object unless it got rid of the person who was holding it, the cat suddenly attacked him.

It came to his leg and bit it.

Krunch!

A 'cracking' noise was heard at that moment. Before long, the cat can be seen writhing in pain on the ground, and it can be seen that some of its teeth have been broken.

<Host, you sure like bullying the little creature.>

He heard System say that.

"But it's not my fault. This little thing wants to steal my flashlight, you see?"

<Well. I can't deny that.>

On Eman's leg, there was a ring of stone protecting the area where the cat tried to bite him. Eman used his magical energy to summon it.

Eman bent his knees and picked the cat using his free hand. Its face looks pitiful and a bead of tears could be seen at the corner of the cat's eyes.

From what System said earlier, this cat could help him a lot.

That was definitely true and he agreed to it and believed it.

"Do you want this flashlight?" Eman asked the cat.

"Nyaw?"

The cat tilted its head and question marks floated around its head. It seemed to want to ask him what was a flashlight.

"This is a flashlight."

Eman held up the flashlight.

"Nyaw! Nyaw!" It suddenly nodded rapidly.

<Looks like it understood what you were saying, Host.>

Eman also thought this cat looked smart.

<Why don't you use your Taming Skill on this cat, Host? This cat will definitely be useful to you.>

System was right.

But…

"I can't," he said.

<Huh? Why, Host?>

"I must not increase my subjects mindlessly while I have not yet earning money..."

Eman thought that he shouldn't depend too much on his Soul Points for the daily needs of his people. No matter how much wealth he has, it will be depleted sooner or later if he has no income coming in continuously. Especially since their numbers are growing, their daily needs will also increase. Economic Recession might occur if he will not be mindful of his decision.

That's why he could not carelessly increase the head he needed to feed around this time.

Even if you say that every time his people kill fish or any animals gives him additional Soul Points, eventually, it would reach the point where his Soul Points could no longer support their day-by-day necessities. One more thing is, there's a limit on how many items he can buy daily.

It was also the reason why Eman wanted the village to be fixed immediately so that he could properly start circulating supplies and money from his village to other places, and vice-versa, without worrying about running out of supplies.

When that happened, he could not only avoid financial decline and he could also accumulate a lot of Soul Points. Then eventually, he could buy all the things he wanted to buy in his Market Interface to power up himself.

That was his real plan for starting a village.

"I have to focus on developing the village first," Eman replied to what System said. "It will benefit me greatly in the long run."

<I see. It's up to you, Host. I trusted Host's decision.>

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